Five join Jerry Rice Award Watch List

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Voting for the Jerry Rice Award won't be
easy considering all the good candidates.

The possibilities grew on Thursday as quarterbacks Scott Lathrop of Southeast
Missouri State and Kiernan McDonagh of Portland State, running back Jake
Hutson of Valparaiso, and linebackers Elandon Roberts of Morgan State and Jeff
Williams of Delaware joined the Rice Award Watch List.

The Rice Award, in its second year, honors the national freshman of the year
in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Lathrop, 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, has the ball in his hands on every offensive
play for Southeast Missouri State and often doesn't give it up. He's carried
the ball at least 16 times in seven games. Overall, he's rushed for 603 yards
on 157 carries with six touchdowns. He's also thrown for six touchdowns.

McDonagh, 6-1, 240, has the size of a middle linebacker, but he's best at
making opposing defenses uncomfortable with his dual-threat abilities.
Portland State's quarterback leads all FCS freshmen with 259.7 yards of total
offense per game. A national freshman of the week selection earlier this
season, McDonagh has thrown for 13 touchdowns and rushed for eight more.

Hutson, 5-6, 180, is hard to catch as he weaves his way in and out of
defenses. He earned national freshman of the week honors when he totaled 248
rushing yards and 323 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns against Campbell
in Valparaiso's first win of the season. He has 629 rushing yards and averages
105.4 all-purpose yards per game.

Roberts, 6-1, 225, is an example of everything being big in Texas. He's come
east from Port Arthur to become Morgan State's leading tackler as a true
freshman. With 83 tackles in nine games, he is on pace for the century club.
He collected a career-high 16 tackles against Delaware State.

Williams, 6-2, 210, is a redshirt freshman who has added nearly 25 pounds to
his frame since arriving at Delaware. He's been a force at outside linebacker
this season, registering 13 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks to rank first in
CAA Football in both statistics. He also is second on the Blue Hens with 58
tackles.

The Rice Award is named for legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice, who was a two-
time first-team All-American in the FCS (then Division I-AA) at Mississippi
Valley State. The award will be voted on by a national panel of sports
information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other
dignitaries following the regular season, and presented at the FCS Awards
Banquet and Presentation on Dec. 17 in Philadelphia.